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Elections are stealing the show across the world.
Though the world heavyweight’s contest still lies
nine months ahead, the United States (US) along with
the rest of the world remains glued to the reports
trickling in on the many primaries’ outcomes. Apart
from the sometimes-slanderous campaigns and
disappointments involved when stakes reach the
monumental levels involved in a multi-billion dollar
race, elections are generally viewed positively.
Further down the transparency scale, the Russians
will weigh in on Vladmir Putin’s handpicked
successor in two week’s time. Though the preparation
is in place to proceede fairly according to some
observers, an election featuring such a close cohort
of the ex-KGB agent in a fledgling democracy after
years of Communist Party monopoly opens room for
suspicion. This is especially the case following a
slew of alleged interference in former satellite
nations in Eastern Europe, political imprisonments
and dubious deaths.
Coming to Africa, especially the East, elections’
standings are increasingly tragic. Though not to the
surprise of many critics given various dictatorships
on the continent for years and impingements on
freedoms, Kenya’s disastrous situation continues to
appal people and solutions evade even one of the
most thorough mediation efforts in modern years.
United Nations (UN) involvement and heavy
international exposure raises the question of just
what can possibly ease tensions after the disputed
December 27 election results erupted pressure
seemingly brewing beneath the surface in a country
seen as a bastion of stability in a volatile region.
In comes the tiny city-state of Djibouti’s election
of February 8. In so many ways the opposite of Kenya
in terms of population and land size as well as
political and economic standing, the results are
still troubling. With opposition parties boycotting
the 65 Parliament seats under President Ismael Omar
Guelleh, his party’s 65 candidates swept the
election in a nation of less than one million.
Amidst opposition parties’ complaints of political
repression and an unfair playing field, what sticks
out most in the whole ordeal is the lack of
understanding or care internationally and seeming
disregard for the politics in such a strategic
nation. The lack of press coverage of an event that
seemingly would shape the future in an ethnically
diverse nation home to the US’ only military base in
Africa is glaringly puzzling.
No doubt a cursory glance to find information on the
possessor of Ethiopia’s primary sea access shows
more coming from the foreign power’s soldier
establishment – along with reports from the
2,800-strong French contingent – than from any other
less tactically interested source.
Similar to the uncontested re-election of the
President in 2005, it is difficult to even use the
democratic term to label such an exercise. Apathy
seems to characterise the sentiment in a country run
by a first-past-the-post electoral system that
promotes one-party governance as questionable
reports come in of discouraging numbers of
registered voters taking the time to come to the
polls.
Though the situation in Djibouti merits more
investigation into what is prohibiting the growth of
a vibrant civil society, attention it sadly probably
will not receive anytime soon, the most pressing
relevance its outcome has in the local Ethiopian
context is pressure for the April local elections to
be fair, transparent and successful in the eyes of a
discerning international community and a politically
apathetic population that so desperately needs to
regain confidence in the democratic processes whose
reputation was so severely scarred in 2005.
Though it disappointingly looks as if international
observers will not be present in two months’ time,
particularly the domestic, but also the world’s,
eyes will be all the more acute to proceedings here
hoping elections go smoothly, contrary to developing
regional trends.
Similar to Djibouti where in 2003 the opposition won
38pc of the vote but due to the questionable
structure of elections did not gain any seats, many
voters here no doubt the effectiveness of their
ballots to promote changes they may see fit. Numbers
have also been disputed in the past in Ethiopia as
is the 72pc voter turnout reported by Djibouti’s
Interior Minister, ostensibly the highest in 15
years and amazing compared to the 20pc opposition
claimed participated in the 2006 regional elections.
But what is really at stake domestically goes past
numbers. The confidence of the public in their
democratic institutions is the true gauge of a
successful state. Though difficult to measure, the
government’s whole-hearted campaign to publicise the
myriad of what is being deemed promising numbers in
the run-up to elections is not capturing what the
public really feels about Ethiopia’s political
system; whatever it may be.
Though the 25 political parties fielding over four
million candidates as reported by The Ethiopian
Herald sounds like good news, it is unclear what
examinations that dig deeper than the surface would
yield. Does the public believe in these candidates
and their abilities to effectively represent and
work towards positive change?
Moreover, what compels the reported 25.5 million
registered voters to carry IDs is a question to be
examined. Do they feel empowered by this democratic
right?
With aid money hinging on the success of elections
in many cases and, more importantly, the future of a
developing nation’s faith in its institutions,
recent tragedies should serve as a wake-up call for
the government to be as prudent as possible to
promote fair elections. The international community
will be watching carefully, though from afar. |
